Meet Harrison Gunn – an inspirational youth mental health advocate and hugely talented young UK social media star
This week’s guest blogger is youth ambassador and all-round huge talent, Harrison Gunn. Harrison while only 14 is already a p𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 c𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 c𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫. Much to his credit, h𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝟐𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬.
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭; 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐕𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬, 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥, 𝐒𝐢â𝐧 𝐎𝐰𝐞𝐧, 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐢 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬, 𝐍𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐞, 𝐎𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐀 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐀 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬 & 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬.
𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥, 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐔.𝐊., 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐋𝐃𝐍 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫.
Take it away Harrison… !
How did you get started?
In 2017, when I thought I was going to be the next big pop star or the next Simon Cowell, I came across an advert online for the ‘BAFTA Young Presenter Competition’ which I gave a go and who would have guessed it… BAFTA contacted me asking for a Skype interview which I proceeded to go ahead with and got the fabulous news of being in the final 5 as a runner-up of the 2017 BAFTA Young Presenter Competition!
Entering the competition was a massive leap out of my comfort zone, something that needed to happen for me to allow myself to do the career I now do and love.
There’s the 11-year-old me in a suit and tie interviewing my brother about all things sport, I was pretty proud! Later in 2018, BAFTA contacted me asking me to cover a report at a Nickelodeon Preview with Dick n Dom. I continued to report at previews for BAFTA and loved every minute of it.
As time went on, each year new presenters joined our BAFTA Young Presenter Team and as we got slightly faded out each year because of the new talent; I took it into my own hands to go for auditions for news shows and go to courses. Annoyingly, none of the auditions were that successful but the more experience I got, the more independent I got!
As I progressed to mature and get experience, I moved into Secondary School which was very hard for me but as it knocked my confidence it built it and I became more confident and strong within myself.
So, here we are in 2020, a year that has been full of negativity in the press and so; I started a Spotify and iTunes podcast last year for young people, by young people; reporting on top-notch events and interviewing the best of the best in the entertainment industry and talking to them about their experiences with mental health within the industry.
I am a 14-year-old a utistic boy and with that comes barriers and things that I need to overcome so if I can do it anyone can!
As I got better guests and more experience with talking to myself over a microphone , haha, and building up my skills I reached out to events for me to report at! My most recent reporting gig (I guess you could call it?!) was at the TEDxRoyalCentralSchool where I was interviewing the event through my eyes and bringing it through the lens so that young people can experience what they can’t! Anything is possible if you set your mind to it!
What are some of your greatest achievements so far?
Do you know what, all of those fancy events and meeting all of the incredible people in the industry, yes, don’t get me wrong, are incredible but my highlight was finding my feet with my mental health, struggles and my confidence.
Starting out in this industry is hard enough as it is, let alone with entering my teenage years, having a diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD which I am medicated for.
Autism is something that is very common and is represented in some of the most successful people in the world. I have learnt to embrace it; and starting secondary school with 900 more people than at my last school, I have always struggled with confidence since a young age.
I remember running off of the stage in tears in our ‘The Beatles’ tribute act when I was 4 because I had no experience or understanding of an audience . And so I think that my greatest achievement; the thing I’m most proud of myself for is: finding my feet with my confidence.
I am so proud of the fact I am a two-time guest on BBC Radio, I have a PA aged 14, I have reported at some incredible events and have got to chat to some of my absolute idols and dream guests. With passion, confidence and strive; anything is possible! I want young people to know that you have to go and get what you want; cross those barriers and live your life how you want to live it. But, also don’t worry if you don’t know what you want to do; that’s also okay!
What advice would you give for young people who might be considering starting out in the Entertainment, Media & Arts Industry?
A quote that I always use to my friends is that you can’t do anything to your full potential unless you love yourself to your full potential.
There is no easy route in to this industry but with perseverance and courage you can do anything you set your mind to. I think the only advice I can give is to take every single opportunity that comes your way; what excuse do you have not to? Another thing that is important to remember is that if you have barriers in your way you have just got to keep looking until you find the right key to unlock the padlock, by that I mean keep going till you find what works for you, its taken me years.
I am a 14-year-old (Jan 2020) Autistic boy and with that comes barriers and things that I need to overcome so if I can do it anyone can do it whatever your excuse is, hard work makes your dreams become a reality.
Follow Harrison on social media and be sure to listen to his excellent podcast – It’s Good to Talk
𝙸𝙶: @𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 / @𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝟸𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚜 / @𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜 / @𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚙𝚘𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝
𝚃𝚆: @𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚗
𝚃𝚃: @𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚞𝚜
𝙵𝙱: 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙶𝚞𝚗𝚗 (𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎)
